The Eerie Safari
by Jet556
Summary: There is a new attraction in Norrisville that has been very secretive about what is at it. The kids are excited for opening night. Randy Cunningham and Theresa Fowler are going there for a date, as are Ken Finlayson and Heidi Weinerman while her brother Howard denies that him going with Debbie King is any such thing. What is at the Eerie Safari?
1. Howard Weinerman and Debbie Kang

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 **Howard Weinerman and Debbie Kang**

Norrisville saw a new attraction open. With the death of McFist many a businessman had come to Norrisville to try and vie for Norrisville as their headquarters even though the reluctant Terry had taken over since his younger brother's fall from grace that came before his demise. The respectable Francis Armstrong had opened the "Eerie Safari", a haunted house-type attraction that was open all year where patrons would go through the maze that was the "Cursed Wilderness Course" with face painting for kids and a magic show. The place was decked out with trees and bamboo walls it was a grand place.

To say that every kid from elementary to high school was excited about it was an understatement. At Norrisville High the students spoke about it in awe.

"My dad is under an oath to not talk about it!" whined Howard Weinerman as he sat on the steps of the high school with Randy Cunningham and Theresa Fowler. "McFist Industries is teamed up with Armstrong Entertainment and he has his mouth sealed shut about the whole thing!"

"Francis Armstrong hasn't said much about the place except for the Cursed Wilderness Course, the face painting and the magic show." Commented Theresa. "I wonder if he is trying to keep the info about the Cursed Wilderness Course under wraps so everyone would be surprised."

"Probably, Theresa." Agreed Randy. "Do you remember the story of how shocked he was when someone had given all the information about his previous attraction? No one saw him for a year."

"Things look like they've been going good this time, Randy." Said Theresa. "Tonight is opening night and nothing has been spoiled."

Then Niall Warburton came running up. Four feet tall, white-haired, feminine looking and child-like in appearance, dressed in blue and wearing a medical mask his arrival caused Randy and Theresa to smile while Howard just scowled. Niall was often ill and had recently fallen so ill he had grown incredibly pail and his red hair had turned white. Surprisingly, his skin had returned to its natural brown even if his hair was still white. Seeing him somewhat like his old self was a good thing.

"Hi, are you three going to the Eerie Safari's opening tonight?" asked Niall, his feminine voice having a hint of a British accent.

Randy and Theresa both answered with "Yeah!" while Howard answered: "Get out of here!" The former two looked to the latter who replied: "He gets sick all the time, if he gets me sick today I won't be able to go!"

"Howard, he's wearing a medical mask ninety percent of the time." Said Randy. "You aren't going to get sick from him."

"I'm not taking chances!" exclaimed Howard. "He can go with someone else. His relationship with his brother Robert has improved, he can go with him."

"Robert has gone to the Rockies with the hiking club." Stated Theresa. "He's been gone all week and won't be back until next Friday."

"Then he can go with his sister!"

"Sarah is a baby, genius." Said Randy with eyes glazed over.

Howard looked to the side and muttered: "Yeah, that really wasn't one of the smartest things to come out of my mouth." He then said aloud with his eyes on the others: "I sort of invited Debbie Kang to come along."

"Like a date?" asked Niall.

"It isn't a date!" screamed Howard, loud enough that his sister Heidi and her boyfriend Ken Finlayson, maternal half-brother to Niall's mother Ulrica, stuck their heads out of an open window.

"What's going on?" asked Heidi.

"Howard and Debbie are going on a date to the Eerie Safari tonight!" answered Niall. Howard was quick to look at the shorter boy with a mortified expression on his countenance.

"I was rooting for you two to get together!" called Ken. "Me and your sister are going to the Eerie Safari too! Looks like it will be date night for a few of us!"

"Howard, if you didn't want a seventh wheel you could have just said so." Commented Niall.

"Wait a minute, ' seventh wheel?' There is no triple date going on here, Niall." Stated Howard. "I'm going with Debbie, my sister is going with your half-uncle, Cunningham and Fowler we really aren't sure what the story is but only one here is a confirmed date!"

Randy and Theresa were both quick to look at each other and say: "Well…"

Howard's eyes widened. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" He brought his palm to his face and said: "Oh terrific, two couples going on a date to the Eerie Safari and me and Debbie Kang are going to be assumed to be—"

"On a date!"

"Niall, I swear I will grab a bucket full of water and empty it onto you."


	2. From Niall to Alexis

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 **From Niall to Alexis**

Niall turned off the faucet. Blood had been running from it when water should have. Looked like his maternal step-grandmother was in the house. Walking from the bathroom to his bedroom, Niall closed the door behind him.

Howard and Debbie weren't going on a date? That he would just have to see but not as himself! It was time for him to switch to his female alter ego: Alexis Finlayson. That his alter ego's surname included his mother's maiden name may have been a poor choice, especially since his mother's family also lived in Norrisville, he assured himself everything would be alright since there was more than one Finlayson family in town.

Changing from his blue set of boy clothes he then switched to his female attire: a Sailor fuku consisting of a white blouse, a blue sailor color with a white trim and a red ribbon done in the form of a necktie and a blue pleated skirt. He then put on the black penny loafers before turning to the rest of his look.

He started by putting on his glasses light blue in color while the blue of his uniform was more like navy. He then put on his earrings, rose-shaped ones. After that he put on his light blue Alice band that had ribbons on it. He then turned to braiding his bottom of the neck-length hair into four braids. The only thing that remained of his attire that hinted this was Niall was the medical mask covering the mouth.

When he was done, Niall Warburton was gone and Alexis Finlayson now stood in before the mirror in Niall's room.

With a height of four feet and both a feminine and childish appearance, as Alexis Niall looked to be a seven year old girl. Thus the alter ego of Alexis a better way to follow Howard and Debbie unrecognized.

Making her way for the bedroom door, Alexis almost grabbed the knob until she remembered something. She was forgetting her purse. Walking back, Alexis picked it up and walked back toward the door. It was, of course, light blue.

Walking down the stairs, Alexis hoped she could sneak out without being noticed. Her immediate family knew about her but others such as her maternal-step-grandmother did not. The last thing she needed was Step-Grandma Hecate Lilith, a lot of other sinister sounding female names, Finlayson seeing her and asking with that voice that could grate cheese: "Who are you?"

Alexis paused and took a good look at the entrance. She could see Step-Grandma Finlayson's jacket on the hat rack. Maybe she was in the kitchen or the dining room or the living room!

And then the hat rack moved.

Letting out an alarmed scream, Alexis ran up the stairs. That scream, regardless be it Niall or Alexis, sounded the same: child-like and feminine. At least Step-Grandma Finlayson would have just thought she had alarmed Niall.

Peeking out from behind the corner of the staircase, Alexis looked at Step-Grandma Finlayson. She then took a look at the walls. Sure enough, just like the blood running from the faucet, blood was dripping down the walls of the Warburton residence. Upon leaving the house Alexis would probably find dogs forming into packs. Theresa had described Step-Grandma Finlayson as a "not quite human woman" and that was easy to believe.

The moment Step-Grandma Finlayson was out of the entrance area, Alexis ran for it! Down the stairs and out the door she went! Once she was out, she let out a small sigh of relief and made her way to the Eerie Safari.


	3. The Opening

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 **The Opening**

Step-Grandma Finlayson was not the kind of woman worth looking at, in fact she was the kind of person whose features inspired nightmares. No matter what was fixed about her she always had broadened nostrils, dry lamellar derma and barbed honed fangs and then there was just her naturally croaky voice. She then had an accent that Niall had never heard. When he had asked Ken, his mother's paternal half-brother, what the accent was Ken replied with "I don't know" to which Niall's maternal grandfather Rick answered "Montmartre."

As Alexis approached The "Eerie Safari", thoughts of Step-Grandma Finlayson soon began to fade away. The last thought to fade away was how particularly angry Step-Grandma Finlayson had been when her Alexis' other self had called her "Step-Grandma." She had outright been throwing things at Alexis' other self upon being called that.

The "Eerie Safari" was an interesting place. It kind of brought to mind a glow-in-the-dark mini-golf place like the one that was in the city to the west of Norrisville or at least that was what Alexis thought as she waited for it to open.

Back and forth she would go to the front door and look through the window. It was indeed a place with a glow-in-the-dark aesthetic mixed with a safari aesthetic. The trees, the bamboo walls, they were all in the glow-in-the-dark look! It was incredible!

Bouncing up and down, Alexis kept wondering how long it would be until opening. She ran back out to look at the volcano-shaped building only to run right into Randy and Theresa.

"Careful, little girl!" exclaimed Theresa.

"Try and calm down a bit. The place will open soon." Said Randy. He then whispered: "You sure do seem excited, Niall."

Alexis did not even try to deny it. She just asked: "You know who I am?"

"Yeah, I was just humoring you that day at the festival."

"Me too." Whispered Theresa.

"Y-You both know?"

"Hmm, lets see here…" Randy and Theresa led Alexis aside so they could talk in private without whispering, the former being the one talking. "A friend of ours who only wore dresses until they were six, barely looks ten despite be fourteen, looks girlish and even has the voice to match a pre-teen girl is wearing clothes of the opposite gender… Who else could it be?"

"Yeah and, Niall, using the braided look that your mom did when she was a kid? Not really the best move." Commented Theresa. "Actually, just curious but does this persona have an alias or is she just the Little Girl with No Name? And how is it you look seven in girls clothes but you look barely ten when you are yourself?"

"Alexis Finlayson and I don't know how to answer the second question, I just do." Answered Alexis.

"Really?" asked Theresa with eyes glazed over. "You use your mom's maiden name as part of the alias?"

"There are five other Finlayson families in Norrisville." Replied Alexis.

"Good point." Theresa admitted. "Also I'd probably lose the Alice band with the bows in addition to the braids. It should be a ponytail and a bow. Actually…" Theresa pulled a blue bow out of her purse that was light blue with a slightly darker trimming. "I have just the thing for you!"

"You just carry a bow like that around in your purse?" asked Randy, incredulous at what he just saw. "The batons I get but a bow?"

"I always knew this day would come." Was Theresa's answer as she walked over to Alexis, undid he braids, put her hair into a ponytail and then put the bow in her hair, after which she took the Alice band. "There! Now Alexis Finlayson is complete!" She took a mirror out of her purse and held it up to Alexis. "What do you think? Also, the glasses are a nice touch. Very Clark Kent even though they are light blue."

"It is perfect!" exclaimed Alexis, a look of joy in her eyes. Then a thought entered her head. "Wait, I bumped into Howard that day at the festival when I was first dressed like this in public? Do you think he knows?"

"Howard has had smart moments but also stupid moments." Said Randy. "It could go either way… Wait, is the reason you are Alexis Finlayson instead of Niall Warburton just to spy on Howard and Debbie because you think Howard doesn't know?" Alexis nodded to which Randy replied: "Gotta admit, that is good logic."

"Wonder about Debbie though." Theresa scratched her right cheek. "Debbie's pretty smart, she might realize who you… Wait! Niall looks barely ten and Alexis looks seven… Without friends or parents how do you expect to get in by yourself?"

"Is such a thing an actual requirement to get in?" asked Alexis.

"I… I don't think so." Commented Theresa. "It would just look odd for a seven year old girl to be here by herself. Might raise a few eyebrows actually. Parents who fear their kids being kidnapped by strangers might think badly of her parents."

"Good point." Agreed Randy.

Alexis just shrugged. "I doubt such a thing will happen." And with that she ran off back to the front doors.

Randy and Theresa just stood there with eyes glazed over. The latter asked: "Our date it going to turn into us keeping an eye on Alexis while she spies on Howard and Debbie isn't it?"

"Boy, I hope not." Replied the former. Then a thought entered Randy's mind to which he asked: "Wait, how much of the stuff are we interested in here? Are we just doing the 'Cursed Wilderness Course' or are going to take in the magic show too?"

"What about the face painting?"

"We're a bit old for that aren't we? Do you want to get your face painted?"

"No but you only brought up two of the three things here." Stated Theresa. "Do you think Alexis would go for getting her face painted?"

"Don't think she'd risk it. With her always getting sick the paint might give her hives or something." Said Randy, shaking his head. "So that leaves us the 'Cursed Wilderness Course' and the magic show… Don't really need to keep an eye on her at the magic show. Probably if she goes into the 'Cursed Wilderness Course.'"

Theresa groaned. "Ugh, do you remember the hedge maze?"

"That one field trip back in the fifth grade." Randy nodded. "Poor Niall was lost in there for two hours… Do you think there has been some improvements with mazes on Alexis' part?"

Theresa did not even take a moment to think about. She immediately answered with: "No."

"Yeah, me neither."

Alexis, who had previously been peering through the windows of the front doors, turned her head and glared at Randy and Theresa. She had heard what they had said and that just made her all the more determined that there had been improvement on her part.

"Wait…" Theresa's eyes widened. "Alexis came here to spy on Howard and Debbie to see if they are really on a date. Did us saying our doubts about her maze navigating abilities just make her change her plans for tonight?"

Randy brought his hand to his forehead while giving an exclamation of "Oh, juice!" He closed his eyes and then opened them back up again. "Wait… Spy on Howard and Debbie… Howard and Debbie wouldn't be interested in the face painting so that definitely crosses that of the list. That leaves only the magic show and the 'Cursed Wilderness Course' and that will entail her having to follow them! We don't have to keep an eye on her!"

"Huh…" Theresa gave a smile and then looked to Randy. "So, they do magic show and we do 'Cursed Wilderness Course' or vice versa?"

"Of course!"

They both looked over at Alexis. She was bouncing up and down excitedly. Theresa's smile grew a little bigger and she said: "Aw, she's cute isn't she? Almost like a toy store is about to be opened and she is going to be the first one…" Theresa's eyes widened. "Wait…" There was a sudden silence and then came the sound of the doors unlocking. Then came the sound of the doors opening and Alexis was seen running into the "Eerie Safari" with others following after her... So did Theresa ask: "Did we just end up the last ones in line for admission?"

"I think so." Replied Randy.

Randy and Theresa quickly made their way into the "Eerie Safari." Sure enough it was decked out with trees and bamboo walls and with the glow-in-the-dark look both trees and bamboos were glowing. As they waited in line, Theresa read a flier she had picked up at the door.

"Apparently the animatronics at this place were made by McFist Industries." She said.

"Guess that is why Mr. Weinerman was under oath not to talk about it..." Commented Randy. "Does it say what they are?"

"Lets see here… Two elephants, five gorillas and snakes, one crocodile, nine butterflies and one hippo… It sounds basically like 'Rainforest Café' without the tigers and jaguars."

"Do you think the animatronics will be exactly like the ones at 'Rainforest Café', a step up or a step down?"

Theresa shrugged. "Who knows? With Hannibal McFist's right hand scientist wanted by the law they may have taken a step down in their robotics. How far behind Alexis are we?"

"Uh…" Randy stood on his tiptoes. "I have no idea. I see the heads of eleven others…"

"Does that include those standing two by two?"

"Okay, twenty-one others! Why does Alexis have to be so short? She is even shorter than Howard and Debbie!"

"Alexis is four feet tall, Howard is four foot ten and Debbie four foot eight." Commented Theresa. "I wouldn't say she is that much shorter but still pretty short. Do you see Howard and Debbie?"

"Yeah, they are four ahead of us. Wait, Alexis just ran on in, we're moving up!"

Alexis ran into the main area of the "Eerie Safari." There were more than just trees and bamboo walls! There was plant growth, mist, waterfalls, motionless model frogs, tropical birds and iguanas, a wishing pond with an animatronic crocodile and hippo in it, reef fish tanks and a star ceiling! This was an incredible place!


	4. Into the Cursed Wilderness Course

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 **Into the Cursed Wilderness Course**

Unfortunately, Alexis did not have time to enjoy the main area. She turned to see Howard and Debbie go into the "Cursed Wilderness Course." Quickly she ran into the maze just ahead of them and stopped to look at her surroundings.

The "Cursed Wilderness" Course was modeled after a cave. It had the same glow-in-the-dark look as the rest of the place and bat cries could be heard coming from hidden speakers in the maze.

Then Howard and Debbie walked past Alexis and went down one of three routes there was to choose from after entering the "Cursed Wilderness Course." No doubt they would overlap at some point, this was a maze after all.

She heard Howard say: "'Eerie Safari?' 'Cursed Wilderness Course?'"

Debbie then said: "Did Francis Armstrong actually name these himself or did he pick them out of a hat?"

"'Stygian Grotto' would have made more sense." Howard then said. Then he, Debbie and the following Alexis exited the cave theme and saw just why it was called the "Cursed Wilderness Course."

The entire thing was jungle themed and the hidden speakers were now playing audio suited for the jungle theme. It was different from the main area with the place looking less inviting. Sinister looking masks could be seen hanging from trees and every now and then some frightening cry would come from the hidden speakers be it that of a man, a beast, a bird or who knew what.

Alexis, now trembling in fright, was having second thoughts about spying on Howard and Debbie to know if they were really on a date. She turned around to go back the way she had followed Howard and Debbie only to discover something that she had no expected: the maze was designed to have its walls move so the people in it would have to take a new direction every time. In this case, the wall came downward making it look as if a landslide had occurred meaning the cave could not be reentered. Stamping her right foot, Alexis let out a small moan. She couldn't backtrack she would have to follow Howard and Debbie regardless.

Then Alexis turned and discovered something terrible: Howard and Debbie had already gone off to explore the "Cursed Wilderness Course." Alexis was all by herself.

Still, it was a maze. It was not unlikely she would not bump into them later and that was enough to keep Alexis' hopes up.


	5. Ken and Heidi's Arrival

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 **Ken and Heidi's Arrival**

Ken and Heidi had arrived an hour later. They would have been there thirty minutes prior but they had gotten severely sidetracked by the fact that Ken's mom, Mrs. Finlayson, had gotten a dog: a whippet.

As they got out of Ken's car he said: "It eats like my mom, it walks like my mom, it even looks like my mom."

Broadened nostrils, dry lamellar derma, barbed honed fangs, capable of being mistaken for a hat rack and resembling a whippet, Mrs. Finlayson was certainly an odd looking woman. How did Mr. Finlayson get attracted to her? He was blind that was how.

"So now there is your mom Hecate and her dog Trivia." Mused Heidi. "Your mom has the Goddess of Witchcraft's Greek name and her dog has her Roman name. How fitting."

Ken shuddered. "I don't think I want to know how stranger things will get a home now that mom has Trivia."

"Ken, we live in Norrisville." Said Heidi. "It is a pretty weird place, we just accept it."

"Yeah, I guess." Ken looked at 'The Eerie Safari.' "I'm going to admit this place looks cool on the outside, wonder how it will be on the inside."

"Have you ever been to one of Francis Armstrong's places?" Heidi asked.

Ken shook his head. "Never. How about you?"

Heidi shook her head in return. "I don't think he ever had a location in Norrisville before."

Ken wrinkled his brow and said: "I wonder why he would now?"

Heidi laughed to herself and commented: "Maybe he realized Norrisville is the only place in New England he hasn't set up a location."

The two entered 'The Eerie Safari.' It was quite an impressive place on the inside but then came the question of how the magic show and maze would be.


	6. One Hour Later

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 **One Hour Later**

As it turned out the magic show would be quite excellent. The maze on the other hand was quiet easily done for Heidi and Ken. With that done the two waited in main area, where they eventually saw Randy and Theresa.

"Theresa, Renseneb, how are you?" Ken asked.

Randy could only stare. "'Renseneb?' I know you are teasing but are you even trying?"

"Renseneb was a pharaoh of Egypt!"

"Then call me 'Ramesses!' I've actually heard of him and he keeps with the name that starts with 'R' theme!"

"Everyone has heard of Ramesses! There were eleven who took that name!"

"And how many took the name 'Renseneb', Ken? Tell me that! How many, Ken? How many?"

While Randy and Ken had that little moment, Heidi and Theresa spoke with one another. The former asked: "So how is this place?"

Theresa shrugged. "So far so good. The magic show is great. How is the maze?"

"Easy but might not be for everyone." Heidi replied. "I notice that Howard and Debbie haven't gotten out, there was a little girl following, I think she was lost and sticking close to the first people she saw."

Well, Theresa knew where Alexis was. She was lost in the maze just like Howard and Debbie, not far from Howard and Debbie if she understood what Heidi was saying.

"Oh, so you've seen Alexis." Theresa said.

"You know her?" Heidi asked.

"I… babysit her sometimes." Theresa replied. What she said was not far from the truth. Theresa had always been told to keep an eye on Niall/Alexis when the Fowlers and the Warburton's had get-togethers.

"Is she here with friends or her family?" Heidi asked.

"No." Theresa answered.

"Are you looking after her."

"No."

"Theresa, that little girl is lost in the maze with my brother and Debbie. She might as well be by herself. What did she do, sneak out? Her parents must be worried about where she is!"

Nodding, Theresa said: "Right, better go get her."


	7. Counterparts

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 **Counterparts**

With Heidi and Theresa having gone in search of Alexis, Debbie and Howard, Ken and Randy were left to discuss the Eerie Safari a bit more. Randy opened with: "So since your family moved around a lot have you seen many places like this?"

"Haunted house attractions open all year round?" Ken asked. "Yeah, all of them of various levels of success."

"How many of them have been safari themed?" Randy inquired.

"I think two." Ken answered. "Not counting this one."

Randy scratched his chin and looked around. The place looked pretty cool, the various forms of entertainment seemed great for various ages, he couldn't understand why the safari theme was not popular enough. "How were they?" he finally asked.

"I think they might have been owned by the same company." Ken answered. "They were very Jumanji-influenced but not to the point of copyright infringement."

"Okay, but were they good?" asked Randy, more specifically.

"They probably would not have lasted fourteen and fifteen years respectively if they weren't." Ken answered.

Nodding, Randy said: "So what about Leeville, the place you were living in before Norrisville?"

"Oh, yeah, it had one." Ken replied, leaning back in his seat and looking up at the ceiling with the small lights designed to look like stars on it.

"So, was there a theme?" Randy. "I can't imagine there wasn't so what was it?"

"Egyptian, more specifically around the Curse of the Pharaohs." Ken narrowed his eyes. Were there actually lights placed in specific spots to form constellations?

"How was it?"

"Average. Not overdone but not really taking any risks either."

"Huh…" Randy thought about that for a moment before asking: "Well, was the look of the place at least good?"

"Oh, yeah." Said Ken. "Seemed to be really inspired by the look of the Mummy movies from Hammer."

"What was that period for those? The late eighties to the early two thousand's?"

"Late fifties to early seventies." Ken answered.

Randy wrinkled his brow before asking: "So did this place have a name?"

"Anathema of Tutankhamun."


	8. Mission Control

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 **Mission Control**

"Really, so Cthulhu was represented by the ammonite from 'Mysterious Island?'" Randy asked Ken, as the two waited for Theresa and Heidi to return with Howard, Debbie and Alexis.

"Yeah, and really Christopher Lee's narration made it work." Ken answered. "It doesn't need to look like him, Christopher Lee says the ammonite is Cthulhu, you believe it."

"That is—" Randy took his vibrating phone out of his pocket and answered it. "Hello?"

"Randy, Theresa. Heidi and me seem to have trouble locating the missing three, can you and Ken see if there is any way to find out where we are, like there is a room with cameras or something?"

"Okay, sure." Randy answered.

Ken just stared at Randy his eyes glazed over as he asked: "They are lost too?"

"Yep."

"I don't believe it." Ken sighed.

The two went looking for some room that had the words "Staff Only" on it. Soon enough they found one, cracked open and they could hear laughing coming from it. Cries of "Look, here they go! Close the path on them!" and "Ha, ha, ha! They're lost! They're lost!" Randy and Ken looked to one another, the former with an annoyed expression and the latter with an incredulous one upon their fronts. There was one question on both their minds: how did people like that ever manage to get hired?

One of the voices within said: "I'm gonna go grab something to eat from the staff lounge, you want something?"

"Get me a chocolate bar."

"Okay."

The sound of footsteps approaching the door caused Ken and Randy's eyes to widen. Both stood on opposite sides of the door and acted natural and for a born citizen of Norrisville, for Randy that meant doing something like whistling innocently. Ken on the other hand just took out his phone, held it up to his ear and tapped his foot as if he was waiting for someone to pick up.

Out from "mission control" emerged… Bash Johnson. Randy and Ken stopped whistling and tapping his foot respectively and just stared.

Ken muttered: "You gotta be kidding me."

Randy and Ken watched as Bash left and then peered in to see who was in the room with the cameras. Neither had any idea who that was they were seeing, watching the camera footage.

"Who is that?" Randy whispered to Ken.

In response, Ken whispered back: "If you don't know what makes you think I do?"


	9. The Solution

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 **The Solution**

The person in the control room was someone, even if Randy and Ken could see more than the back of his head, was not someone they would have recognized and the non-descript facial features would not have helped either. Whoever it was, he was intentionally keeping people from getting out of the maze.

"Alright, so how the juice do we get this guy out so we can help get everyone out of the maze?" Randy inquired.

"Like this." And then Ken did perhaps one of the least nice things he had ever done: he pushed Randy into the room.

With a cry of alarm, Randy fell into the control room. The guy who was messing around with the maze's walls turned and looked at the purple-haired boy in surprise. He was extremely non-descript. He could have been anybody, really the most that anyone had for a description of this guy was "adolescent Caucasian lad." He wasn't anyone particularly prominent.

"What the juice are you doing in here?" The guy asked. Even his voice was non-descript, not deep, not high, nothing about it distinct.

Standing up, Randy exclaimed: "I can explain!"

One minute passed. Another then passed. When a third passed, Randy turned and ran, causing the non-descript individual to chase after him.

With the non-descript individual out of the way, Ken entered the room and walked over to the controls. It was a quick scan of the buttons that told him what he needed to do. He pressed the button labelled "Auto" and the maze's walls were back onto automatic movement instead of manual.

Giving a sigh of relief, Ken leaned on the control panel. That was that.

"Finlayson!"

Enter Bash Johnson.

"Oh, no…"


	10. The Return Home

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 **The Return Home**

Alexis returned home and upon finding her step-grandmother gone, she let out a sigh of relief. In the kitchen sat Robert, eating a pancake with his hands because he couldn't bother to get a fork out of the cutlery drawer.

As she walked past, Robert went: "Hey, Niall, how's it going?"

Alexis sighed and walked over to her brother. "Robert! I told you when I am dressed like this, it is 'Alexis Finlayson!'"

Robert shook his head and put his pancake down on his plate. "Really? The name of a dead great-aunt and mom's maiden name? That's the best you can come up with?"

"There are five other Finlayson families in Norrisville."

"Yeah, but only one with a student attending school at Norrisville High. One is a newlywed couple, the second has their only child attending preschool, the third has their eldest in kindergarten and the fourth is that elderly couple whose own children have cut ties with them. Ken only has one sibling and everyone knows Pierre is at the university of Outer Mongolia."

"Okay, I'll think of another." Alexis said. "What did Step-Grandma Finlayson want?"

"Oh, who knows?" Robert asked, picking up his pancake and taking a bite out of it. "Whatever it was, it caused mom to run from the room crying. It was like a repeat of that time grandma called and caused her to break down crying but different."

"What was different?"

"Step-Grandma Finlayson wasn't crapulous."

"What did dad do?"

"Told her to get out of the house. So how was the Eerie Safari?"

"It was good. Don't you have a date, Robert?"

"She cancelled." Robert put his pancake down and sighed. "By the way, someone called asking if you'd like to go out?"

"Who was it?" Niall inquired, bouncing up and down. "Boy or girl?"

"I didn't recognize the voice and it was a boy." Robert answered. "Look, I know we've never been the best of brothers, Niall, but if this guy hurts you, I will break him into a thousand pieces."

"Yeah, whatever. Did he leave a number?" Niall asked.

"Yeah, I wrote it down." Robert pointed at a note on the kitchen table. Niall walked over to the table, picked it up, squealed and began to bounce up and down. Robert inquired: "His name?"

"Alexander!" Niall went running upstairs, leaving a confused Robert in the kitchen.

"Alexander who? Niall?" The slamming of Niall's bedroom door caused Robert's eyes to widen. Standing in the kitchen, he proceeded to call up to his brother. "Niall! Who is this guy? Niall, I am your older brother and I am not letting you see a guy I don't know. Do you hear me, Niall? NIALL!" The sudden sound their baby sister crying in the nursery caused a mortified expression to appear on Robert's countenance. "Ah jeez…"

 **The End**


End file.
